The Music Venue Trust has launched a new campaign called #SaveOurVenues in order to highlight the struggle that independent music venues across the UK are currently facing during the coronavirus lockdown.

More than 550 independent venues, ranging from bars and clubs to gig venues, are faced with the immediate threat of closure as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Music Venue Trust says. #saveourvenues will highlight some of these venues and draw attention to the funds needed in order to ensure that they can open again when lockdown measures are gradually eased.

Each venue has its own crowdfunding page, with any excess when the target is reached going into a central #SaveOurVenues fund.

"The situation is dire, government support has been exhausted, and it now falls to artists, music fans, local communities and the wider industry to take action," a statement by the Music Venue Trust on the campaign's website says. "Put bluntly, without these venues the opportunities for artists and audiences to connect in a meaningful way at a local level will simply disappear in a lot of cases. And if they go they will never come back. Please help us to help grassroots music venues to survive this unprecedented threat to their existence."

You can find out how you can support at-risk venues via the #saveourvenues website.